Dancing with Death
by Two Really Insane Women
Summary: When the Gundam boys meet Takai, they have mixed reactions to her. But, after Endless Waltz, none of them are sure rebuilding their Gundams is a good idea. If another war is coming, though...Rated for seeing Death at work.
1. Cold Breeze

Disclaimer: We don't own GW. If it's not cannon or basic grapevine, it's ours.

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Chapter 1

Cold Breeze

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Duo shook his braid. "Stupid humidity," he muttered.

"It was your choice to come to this town," Heero said.

Duo glared at the somber boy, then shrugged. "What can I say? They have great ice cream."

"It's a Dairy Queen," Trowa said.

"So?" Duo turned and spread his hands before him, being careful not to drop his ice cream. "Actually, you have to admit, it's nice in its own big town sort of way."

"Why did you bring us here?" Quatre asked.

"Because I have connections to this place."

High Street was busy with both cars and pedestrians. The Gundam pilots had positioned themselves safely on the steps of a church, out of the way of the crowd. And they were all holding chocolate-dipped vanilla cones, courtesy of Duo. Well, actually, by his recommendation; he'd made them all pay for themselves.

Duo sucked on the ice cream through a break in the soft chocolate shell, his eyes going past the brick buildings to the blue sky. He smiled. Father Maxwell would be pleased. He'd never had the chance to bring Duo here himself, but the kind elder had often wished he could as he told stories of his hometown to the boy.

Duo broke from his thoughts as _something_ passed by.

He turned; a tall woman walked below them, her black hair flowing down to her knees. But there was something…else. He started after the woman. "Duo?" Quatre called. He didn't bother to respond.

The woman's pace quickened, her long stride carrying her past the other people on the sidewalk. "Hey, you. Wait." Duo struggled between a pair of thickly-muscled guys. "Hey!"

The woman rounded the corner, and Duo glimpsed a violet eye looking straight at him. He ran after her. He skidded around the corner; the woman had vanished.

Duo stared at the sea of blond, red, brown, even green and blue hair. There were some people with black hair, but none sporting it as long as that woman had. No one was even wearing a similar outfit of black jeans and dark purple t-shirt under the searing summer sun. Duo frowned. He looked at the closest store front; a "Closed for Lunch" sign hung on the door. Duo sighed, and he raised his cone to eat. The ice cream was gone.

Duo turned; the vanilla and chocolate lay in a spreading puddle on the sidewalk. His shoulders slumped. "Bummer."

Takai released the spirit's hand. The elderly woman turned to her with a smile, then stepped onto the waiting, shallow boat. The boatman pushed off the bank and started punting across the river, and Takai sat down on the grass.

"How did your mission go?"

Takai glanced at her sister. "Fine." Takai looked at the spirit, which now looked to be in her mid-thirties. "Her body was so tired, but her spirit wasn't completely ready. She really didn't want to leave."

Kameko sat down next to Takai and gathered the hem of her long, white dress around her ankles. Her white phoenix trilled, and she stroked its feathers. "But she's happy. This is one for happiness, as well as joy," she said quietly.

Takai was quiet for a minute. "Something odd happened today. A mortal saw me."

"Who?"

"Duo Maxwell."

Kameko frowned as she rubbed her phoenix's head. "Who—Oh, the Gundam fighter."

Takai nodded. "I was in mortal form to help sister Akifa prepare. I certainly didn't expect the Gundam pilots to be there, but they were. After I passed, Duo started following me. I disguised myself and became part of the crowd, but still..." Takai ran a hand through her bangs. "I don't understand why. If it hadn't been the lunch hour, it would have been harder to get away, but it shouldn't have even happened."

"The spiritually attuned have been able to see us when we're in mortal form, but otherwise..." Kameko held up a lock of hair in her free hand, studying the pearl-hued strands intensely. "Has he ever seen you on the battlefield?" she asked.

"You know I don't show myself to living soldiers during combat."

"Hm."

Takai stood, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. "Not that it matters."

"It's odd, though, and there has to be a reason," Kameko said.

"Don't worry yourself about it. We'll take care of it." Takai tucked her fingers into her pockets and started away.

"What if it happens to me, as well?"

Takai bowed her head in response and smiled to herself. 'No, Kameko. We both know that, though you are the elder, I will protect you. As will our Lord and our God.' She looked at Kameko. "People don't tend to be as afraid of you." She walked off.

"What was that about?"

Duo shrugged in response to Quatre's question and started eating his new ice cream. "I just had a feeling."

"What sort of feeling?" Heero asked.

"Ah, forget it."

"About that black-haired woman?" Quatre asked.

Duo laughed; he hadn't exactly been subtle about it. He nodded.

"Because...I felt something, too. I don't know what, but I felt cold. And warm at the same time. I don't understand it."

"Well, that's not what I was thinking, but yeah, I definitely didn't understand it." Duo stared through the cement sidewalk, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"What did it feel like?" Quatre asked.

"Like...there was something familiar about her. A strong feeling—no, intense, concentrated."

"Perhaps you should drink less coffee," Heero said.

"I didn't imagine it, Heero."

"He didn't say you did," Quatre soothed.

"He sure meant it." Duo cocked a grin at Heero. Now that the war was over, life would be boring if he couldn't tease his friends and get it back.

"Do you think it's important to figure this out?" Trowa asked quietly.

Duo shrugged. "I just know I want to. It was weird." He looked up at the sky. 'But it felt like I knew her.'


	2. Hallucinating

Disclaimer: We don't own GW. If it's not cannon or basic grapevine, it's ours.

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Chapter 2

Hallucinating?

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It was two months later that Duo visited Heero in Japan. They were now heading to Duo's favorite restaurant for dinner, and Heero suggested the shortcut.

The two Gundam pilots followed the narrow, twining back alleys. "Are you sure this is a shortcut?" Duo said.

"Of course."

"Whatever you say. Huh?" Duo grabbed Heero's arm, though that was hardly necessary; the perfect soldier had already stopped.

The woman stood further down the alleyway. Her hair fell in a loose cascade, blending in with her long black dress. The only points of light were her pale face and hands. And almost invisible in the fading light, two large, deep violet wings spread out from her back.

Duo pointed at the woman. "Hey, it's you."

She turned. No, it wasn't her. The face was too pointed, too different to even be human. Her burgundy eyes widened, and she spoke. "You can see me?"

"Of course I can."

Movement attracted Duo's gaze; a lean, black dog watched him steadily out of ice blue eyes. "But how?" the woman asked. Duo blinked and looked back at her. She shook her head. "I don't have time." She turned and bent down, leaning on a black staff, holding out her free hand. Duo looked to the ground; a body lay in a crumpled heap. The man took the woman's hand and stood, leaving an identical person on the ground. The woman glanced at Duo again and turned away; she, the man, and the dog vanished.

The two boys moved to the body. As Heero checked the man, Duo stared at the end of the alley. It opened onto the next street, but the woman and her companions had not gone that way. Duo and Heero would definitely have noticed.

"He probably died from a heart attack." Heero closed the elderly man's eyes and turned to the braided pilot. "Who were you talking to?"

"You didn't see her?"

"Who?"

Duo blinked at Heero. Surely the Japanese pilot wasn't being serious. Except that he usually was, and he definitely looked it right now. "What are you talking about? She was standing right next to this guy. And then—" Duo stopped, blinking. He had seen two of the man. But how?

"Then?" Heero prompted.

"I don't know what I saw. Forget it."

Heero's eyes narrowed.

"I'm fine, Heero. I'm not hallucinating. At least, I don't think I am." Duo shrugged. "Come on, we should take care of this guy."

Duo entered his hotel room and closed the door. His hand paused beneath the light switch. There was someone there. Her.

Only the face and hands were visible at first, then slowly the onyx dress and plum-hued wings, lastly the ebony staff and hair. Duo snapped on the light. "Hey, what are you doing here? Who are you?"

The woman vanished.

"All right, I know you're there. Come on out. I don't want to have to do anything drastic, you know."

The woman reappeared exactly where she was the first time. But the wings and staff were gone, and the face was more gentle and rounded. She still wore the black dress, instead of jeans and a t-shirt. No, not a dress; it was a black robe, over dark pants and boots, with a wine-colored shirt visible at the open neck and where the sleeves split on her lower arms. Her violet eyes watched Duo steadily. It had to be the same person. "You can see me now?" the woman asked.

"Of course I can, but why do you keep asking me? And what sort of trick was that?"

"Good. Well, I must be going."

Duo shut the door and stood in front of it, crossing his arms. "I don't think so, not until you answer some questions."

The woman cocked an eyebrow. "What sort of questions?"

"Who are you? What are you doing here? How did you get in here? And why do you keep asking if I can see you?"

The woman chuckled almost silently. "You need not know the answers to any of those right now. If you will excuse me, I bid you good life." She walked towards the door, even though Duo didn't move. He lifted his chin to look down his nose at her. It was hard; even though he was sixteen and not short, this woman was taller than he, maybe even taller than Trowa. He lifted his chin another centimeter.

"I can't let you go, not unless you answer me," he said.

The corner of the woman's mouth flickered upwards. She stepped around him; he backed up against the door, feeling the button lock under his hand. The woman walked straight for the wall, and one foot went through it.

"Could you at least tell me who you are?" Duo stopped. He should be wondering how she could be doing this, what was going on.

She turned to look at him again straight on. "Takai. Erelah Takai." She vanished through the wall.

Duo threw open the door; the long hotel hallway was empty. He laughed quietly. "Why am I not surprised? Wait a minute. Takai?"

Takai set her staff on the wall pegs, the black wooden shaft gleaming smoothly in the light. She hung up her robe next to a similar white one and followed her nose into the kitchen. "Evening, Mary."

The woman seated at the table nodded. Kameko turned from the pots on the stove. "How did it go?" she asked.

"I was able to hide from him. I'm afraid I also allowed myself to tease him." Takai scratched Bayda's white ears before gently pushing the wolf out of the way so she could get a jug out of the refrigerator.

Kameko's pale blue eyes widened at her sister. "You teased a mortal? That hasn't happened for almost a century."

"I know. And I told him my name."

The shorter Fae paused in draining a pot of broccoli.

"He asked," Takai added. She finished pouring milk into the two cups and put away the jug. Nearby, the phoenixes rustled on their perches, and they cooed towards Takai. She paused long enough to scratch each bird's head.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Not unless I have to. I'm not even planning on speaking to him again. Anyways, enough about my day. How are you, Mary?"

The spirit smiled. "Fine, thank you. I just accompanied Kameko on some of her assignments today."

"Two premature babies and one especially difficult C-section," Kameko said. She started dishing out the food. "I also had an attempted suicide. I was able to keep him from jumping until the police got there, and we coaxed him down." She placed two plates on the table.

"Good job. Shall I say grace?"

"Hey, Heero." Duo threw himself down in the chair across from Heero in the small cafe. "I'm not hallucinating."

The Japanese pilot simply raised one eyebrow.

"I saw her again last night. It was that woman from Morgantown, the one Quatre and I both felt something about."

"Are you sure you don't need—"

"Yes. I talked to her and she talked back both times yesterday."

"You could talk to your furniture and hear it respond. That doesn't mean the conversation's real."

"She was real." She had walked through a wall and then simply been gone, though. Duo shook his head. He wasn't going mad. "Takai means death, right?" he asked. Heero nodded, his brow furrowed, eyes still on Duo. He simply smiled back.

"Why?" Heero asked.

"That was her name. Takai."

Heero stood. "Come on."

"I'm not crazy, really. She was there when I got to the hotel last night. She did this whole little disappearing trick, but she came back."

"Where was this?"

"My room."

"How did she get in?"

"I don't know, but she walked out through the wall."

Heero's expression didn't change, but Duo could practically see the thoughts running through the stoic boy's mind. 'Report: Duo Maxwell has officially gone insane.'

Duo sighed. "She was there, I promise."

"How do you know?"

"I saw her. I talked to her."

"Did you touch her?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm going to go up to some woman I don't know named Death and give her a hug. Not happening. You suggest that and say I'm the one who's crazy? But she was there. Quatre saw her the first time, too, and he felt something."

"No one else was there last night."

"No, see..."

Two men, identical down to the last lock of grey hair and the canvas-soled shoes, one dead from a heart attack, the other vanished with the woman with wings. Death.

Duo blinked. "I think she meant it. Wow."

Heero simply watched him, waiting.

"Her name is Death, right? Last night, I saw her take that guy's spirit. That's what was happening."

"Explain."

Duo described what he had seen in the alleyway. By the time he finished, Heero was sitting down again. "I'm serious, that's what happened. I'm not ill, I'm not crazy, and I'm not going to see a doctor," Duo said.

Heero regarded him closely. "How can you be sure?"

"Quatre felt something, too. I don't know, Heero, but there's something about her, and it isn't simply me being silly. There's really something there."

A smile tugged at the corner of Heero's mouth. "Don't let Hilde find out."

Duo stared at the quiet Japanese pilot for a minute, then he laughed.


	3. Warning

Disclaimer: We don't own GW. If it's not cannon or basic grapevine, it's ours.

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Chapter 3

Warning

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After dinner, when Florence left, Kameko returned to the subject of Duo Maxwell. "At least you know he's not aiming to die or anything," Kameko said.

"Yes. It was funny, actually. He thought he could stop me."

Kameko sat for a minute in silence, her attention intent on the dress she was embroidering. "You said you weren't planning on speaking to him again," she finally said.

"Not unless I have to. Most mortals…well, you know what it's been like."

"Sometimes it's gone well, and I think Duo Maxwell is a person who wouldn't mind."

"Yes. But still, I think I'll keep them away from him. At least until I have to."

Kameko nodded. "Do you really think he'll need your guidance?"

"Maybe. With any of them it's possible." She grimaced. "Heero's too eager to die, but he isn't ready."

Kameko sighed. "Yes. But who knows, maybe I'll be able to do something about that."

The dirges lifted their heads from the floor, and they pricked their ears, staring at the scrying pool. Hou and Kou trilled, long tails rustling, and the sisters looked at the shallow bowl of water. The clear liquid clouded, swirled, and settled, revealing the message. Takai and Kameko looked at each other.

"Of course," Takai sighed. "Stupid humans."

"So, Trowa, are you going to do the whole lion trick?" Duo picked up the pilot's half-mask and turned it over in his hands. "I really like that one."

"A master never reveals his secrets," Trowa said quietly.

"Aw, come on. We're your pals." Duo draped an arm around Trowa's shoulders and waved to the other pilots seated in the small dressing tent.

Trowa didn't respond but shrugged off Duo's arm so he could pull on the sleeveless shirt of his costume. "Can I come in?" a woman asked from outside.

"Just a minute, Cathy."

"I'm not Catherine."

Trowa looked at the tent entrance. "You have a fan!" Duo ran over and threw open the tent flap. He froze.

Takai simply looked at him out of deep violet eyes. "Can I come in?" she repeated.

"Duo? Who is..." Quatre's voice trailed off as he joined Duo. "It's you," Quatre said quietly. Takai nodded.

Heero stepped forward. "Who are you?"

Takai looked away from Heero towards Duo. "I need to speak with you. May I come in?" she repeated firmly.

Duo glanced at Heero and nodded. The soldier didn't move at first, except for a shadow in his eyes and a slight wrinkle between his brows. Then he lowered the gun. Duo stepped back, and the woman entered the tent. "So, what do you want to talk to us about?" Duo asked.

She closed the tent flap. "Your Gundams."

"What about them? They were destroyed after the last war."

"I know. I propose that you make new ones."

The pilots stared at the woman. "That's out of the question," Quatre finally said.

"Why?"

"Don't you know why we destroyed them?"

"A dream that will one day be," Takai said.

Duo frowned. "Then why do you want us to rebuild the Gundams?"

"Because humans are not ready for that dream."

"Are you proposing that we bring back war?" Heero said.

Takai turned to him, red flashing across her eyes. Then they were violet again, through narrowed, hooded by her thin eyebrows. "Hardly. I am proposing that you be prepared for another war."

"Just who are you?" Wufei asked.

"Erelah Takai."

Heero glanced at Duo. "Death."

The woman simply looked at him.

"Are you Death?" Heero asked.

"No."

Duo frowned, and Heero glanced at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Do you think war's a great enough possibility to rebuild our Gundams despite everything that's happened?" Quatre asked after a moment of silence.

"What with everything that has happened, I would expect you to know better. Treize and his daughter are only two examples of what the human race is capable of, even when they mean well. There are those who try to do evil, as well. You are examples of beneficial good, but the good needs to be prepared for the evil. It will come."

"What makes you so sure?" Wufei said.

"I know human nature. Until the end of this world, there will be evil present, since the serpent told Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, since Cain killed Abel."

The boys were silent for a minute. "But the government has changed," Quatre said softly.

"Humans have not."

"Rebuilding the Gundams would be inviting war," Heero said.

Takai sighed. "Trust me, you will be much happier if you rebuild them and have them ready. I never said you had to display them. To have the weapons available for defense is not to start the fight."

Wufei and Heero watched the woman with narrowed eyes. "But do you think war will come so quickly? It hasn't even been a year," Duo said.

"Yes."

"We're supposed to believe you?" Heero asked.

"You don't have to, but it would make things easier. Think about what you have seen."

_The man in the alley, and again, two at once…_ "Who are you, really?" Duo asked.

Violet eyes turned to him. "Takai."

"Death."

"No."

"You took that man. His spirit," Duo said.

Heero sighed softly, while the other boys stared at Duo. "What?" Quatre asked.

"I…saw her. A man died from a heart attack, and there were two of him. She led the living one away. Or not living one. His spirit."

The stares turned to Takai, and Quatre opened his mouth. After a moment, he swallowed. "Are you…"

"No. I am a guide, not the Grim Reaper."

Trowa blinked. Wufei snorted. "Really?"

It was Takai's turn to glare at the Chinese pilot. "Yes."

"Duo?" Quatre said.

Duo shrugged. "Well, she can walk through walls, and she can vanish. Oh, and she has wings."

Trowa cocked an eyebrow. "Wings?" Quatre asked.

"Yeah, wings," Duo said.

"You're an angel?" Quatre asked Takai.

Takai sighed. "Not technically. I'm a Fae."

"A fae? Like a fairy?" Quatre held up his hand, two fingers indicating a tiny being. Wufei snickered, Duo laughed, and even Heero seemed to be repressing a grin.

The violet eyes flashed red. Then Takai subsided. "It is better to have faith than knowledge," she said, almost too softly for Duo to hear. She turned to the pilots. "Now, back to business, please."

Silence reigned in the small circus tent for a minute. It never could last for long, though, with Duo around. "So you say there's a war coming and that we should build new Gundams. That'll take some time, not to mention getting the supplies," Duo said.

"Even though your Gundams were deconstructed, many of the original computer, circuitry, and frames exist. Also, why do you think I'm here?"

"You're gonna help us steal what's left of our Gundams and rebuild them?"

"Trowa, we're on next," Catherine called from outside.

"And not just me, but your friends, if they're willing," Takai added. She looked at Quatre, then turned back to the whole group. "Do you want to do this or not? You've already done much for your fellowmen, but there is always more," she said quickly.

Duo grinned. "You think we'd pass up this chance? Count us in!"

Takai smiled. "I thought so. You need to get your engineers, and I'll meet you in five days time in the old Oz factory in the Persian Gulf. Good luck, Trowa." She bowed and vanished.

"That was weird," Duo said.

"Trowa, get your behind out here!"

"Better go before Cathy has a fit," Duo teased.

"Good luck, Trowa. We'll be cheering for you," Quatre said.


End file.
